Chicago
Hot Streets

THE REVIEW

When your guitarist dies, an absolute guitar hero, in an absurd way, the situation is not the simplest. Chicago is a collective, a group of amazing musicians, all authors of hit songs. Terry Kath was a talent not only as a composer and guitarist, but he was also a great stage man with his imposing physique and soulful voice; to complicate matters, there's also the departure of longtime producer James William Guercio, a great creative mind who had managed to best highlight that strange band that fused all genres, without a declared leader and with a magnificently driving horn section.

In '78, Chicago continues, with Phil Ramone as the producer and Donnie Dacus chosen as the lead guitarist. The latter is a musician with a great tradition, already working with Stephen Stills on "Stills" from 1975. A driving, technical guitarist, but less spectacular than Kath. The album put together for the first time does not have the band's name in its title, "Hot Streets" in fact is a complex composition by Robert Lamm with big band atmospheres closer to many Chicago songs of the '70s, not bad and enjoyable. It must be said that this work emerges after many listens and is not to be discarded in the end, and it begins with one of the band's great hits, "Alive Again". Written and sung by Cetera, it opens with a frenetic disco rhythm supported by Dacus, then moving to the explosive entry of the horns, an overwhelming piece that fuses disco with a more traditional rock structure. "The Greatest Love on Earth" is Cetera's typical classy and syrupy piece; much better is "Little Miss Lovin'", a track led by Dacus’s filtering guitar featuring the Bee Gees on backing vocals, a great piece. The rest of the work unfolds into elegant songs, Cetera's atmospheric pieces (the notable "No Tell Lover") and closes with Lamm's curious composition "Show Me The Way". A late prog piece that merges with disco, well-written and pleasant to listen to.

"Hot Streets" proves to be a tremendous success once again for Chicago. With the closing of the decade, the band will steer towards classy disco music with "Chicago XIII" (1979), an album driven by the super-danceable single "Street Player".